2 Mollies Dead 1 Missing (Presumed Dead)

[andyG44]

This morning one of the mollies starting behaving erratically, it was swiming like a corkscrew and occasionally bumping into things, eventually it settled down and died. A second one followed. Both female. The larger male is missing.
 
The only suggestion I have so far is that they nipped on the aquarium glue which I used to bind the steel brackets onto the glass, mollies were picking on everything so they may have chewed on glue strings and bits ...
 
The glue was left to set for 48 hours before the water was raised over to the brackets, and it is still soft to the touch, but I suspect it will remain like this. This is Juwel own aquarium glue, black.
 
I have added nothing into the aquarium, no plants, no fish, no change of water and no change of food. Nothing at all was done except the placing of two support bars as per the other post.
 
All water parameters were perfect this am, as they have usually been.
 
 

 

[snork6]

How long have you had the fish?

 

[andyG44]

Had the mollies and most other fish over 2 months. The three mollies were very inquisitive, not scared of any movement in the room, and they nipped on things. I suspect they ate the glue. And I have never seena  fish doing this torpedo - corckscrew run before, I thought in the beginning it was great acrobatics but soon realised she was sick. She died a few hours after.

 

[fal3]

Hi there. sorry for your losses buddy

 
Were the fish able to maintain their balance in the water? Or were the kind of spinning? Might want to read up on swim bladder problems. Might be it, really not sure. And as for the missing one, well that's very very odd. Any chance it could have jumped out? Mine used to do that all of the time.

 

[nic1]

Are there any other fish in there?
48 hours is the recommended time but sometimes it needs longer to cure,
Maybe this was the case here, lower the water lever so its under the brace bars and let it dry properly for up to a week and also do a couple of large water changes to eradicate it from the water.

Molly's will eat anything! Poor guys.
It is possible the females ate the male when he died then started on the silicone.

 

[Matt68046]

Ya this is a telltale sign of poisining, happened to me before with rust.  Always keep some carbon on hand and only use ornaments and stuff without metal or glue that are made specifically for fish.

 

[andyG44]

Many other fish seemingly OK.
 
The plecs may be responsible for disappearing victims,,, If i can catch them I'd move the plecs on the larger tank which is going to have larger fish eventually.

 

[fal3]

Ah. Yeah if the plecos are big enough then you're right, they probably did make the others a snack . How much bigger are they than the others?

 

[andyG44]

I spoke too soon yet again. A few guppies died, as evidenced by the smaller plec munching on something yellowy.
 
Actions:
50% water change, removed some electrician's tape that I had used to mask the support brackets (in case the fish were nibbling on it), reduced water level slightly so they cannot nibble on the glue anymore, removed the two plecs and 4 golden barbs and tranfered into the larger tank which was void of fish (but overgrown with plants).
 
 
I presume the guppies also munched on the soft glue too that's why they died.

 

[fal3]

Awww. This really is a tough time for you. I'm truly sorry about your losses. But was there anything unusual on any of the deceased guppies? Or did the plec eat all of them? Although as you say, the glue is looking very likely to be the cause.

 

[andyG44]

I have caught and removed the two plecs as well as 4 very lively golden barbs into my other aqurium.
 
I have not seen any more fish deaths. I have kept the water level slightly below any protruding glue so hopefully the fish cannot eat it anymore (assuming this was the reason for the deaths).

 

[fal3]

good decision to move the fish to other aquarium. Well, as long as there isn't anything they could eat in the other tank that is

 

[andyG44]

The plecs are cohabiting with 4 golden barbs which are large and very energetic I doubt they would pose a problem. Eventually I would like to put rainbow fish in this large aquarium but I have not found a source yet.

 

[fal3]

oh that should be ok then . And I'm not sure where abouts you are in the UK, but I've heard good things about maidenhead aquatics, they knight be of some use to you